"Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth."
-Psalm 96:1
As you all already know, I love music. Music is one of those things that everyone can appreciate, regardless of who you are. Music is everywhere; it's in theater, movies, tv, grocery stores, elevators, and many other places as well. I already written extensively about music before, but today I want to focus on a particular style- acapella. For those of you who don't know what acapella is, it is a style of music where there are no instruments, just voices. Acapella music can be one melody, multiple harmonies, or when the voice replicates the sound of an instrument. In this post, I want to talk about acapella music where there are multiple harmonies.
Why am I talking about acapella music? Recently our church has created an "official" vocal team, where a group of people sing acapella songs every now and then. As you may have guessed, I am a part of this team. Last Sunday we sang our first song together as this new group. If you have not heard acapella music before, I would highly recommend that you take a listen, because it is really special. After we sang that song on Sunday, I got a lot compliments regarding our song. The absence of instruments really emphasizes the harmony between voices, and it's something really special.
Despite what it may seem, I am not writing this post just to praise how amazing acapella music is. I want to talk about harmony. What is harmony? In musical terms, it means a combination of notes that creates a specific arrangement called a chord. I could go on and on about the various kinds of harmonies, but that is not the point of this post. I want to talk about the other kind of harmony. Harmony's non-musical definition means agreement or concord.
You may have noticed that the two definitions of harmony are actually similar in some regards. The way harmony is created in music, especially acapella music, is when two or more people work together to create a chord. A chord has a very pleasing sound, especially when it is sung well and together. The way harmony is created outside of music is when two or more people work together to create agreement between each other. In both cases, people must work together in order to create something that could not be created alone. They work together to create something greater than what they can do themselves.
Many things in life are easier to accomplish if you work with someone else. The reason many people struggle with working with others is because they lack harmony. The just assume that harmony should be created, but they forget that it takes work. Everyone has to work together in order to create harmony. In music, if even one person sings the wrong note, the harmony is broken. I realized that the hardest thing to overcome when trying to achieve musical harmony is to do your part. If you do not practice your part, you will not be able to achieve harmony in the group. Many times, if you do not do your part, you will end up following someone else's part. However, everyone has to learn their own part, and contribute to the group's harmony.
The same is true outside of music. Everyone has certain talents that God has given them, and they differ from each other. If people start following other people, they will waste their own talent. Everyone should contribute to the group in the way that God enables them. Creating something greater than yourself requires you to work together with others. The Bible speaks often of the importance of working together. This is because if everyone contributes in their own way, greater things can be accomplished. We are not called to live on our own, but to work together and create harmony.
-Smart
The Claims of Christ
"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one come to the Father except through me."
-John 14:6
I know that it's been a while since I have posted on this blog, but that's because I've been a bit busy with school and I haven't really had anything to write about. However, I want to keep this blog going, so I thought I would take some time out of my schedule and write. Recently I have been reading the book "Basic Christianity" by John Stott, and I have continued listening to Ravi Zacharias' podcast, "Let my People Think". One interesting thing was brought up in both of these- the claims of Christ. What does that mean? Let's think about it.
We can assume that Jesus said a lot of things when He was on this earth, because we know that in the gospels Jesus spoke many times, and that was only three years of His life. Obviously we can only see what Jesus said during the three year period described in the gospel, and what He said in other books of the Bible as well. If you have read the gospels and are familiar with them, you will know that Jesus was often teaching. Most of what Jesus said (at least what is recorded) was to teach others, whether it be the disciples, the crowd, or the teachers of the law.
What I find interesting about Jesus' teachings is that most people would agree with them. As a matter of fact, even people who are not Christians sometimes say that Jesus was simply a good teacher. They admit that what Jesus teaches has value in life. Mark chapter one describes when Jesus is teaching in the synagogue. Verse 22 tells us that "the people were amazed at His teaching". When Jesus taught, people listened because they realized that His teachings were good. Even people today would agree that His teachings are good. For example, no one would argue with the idea that we should love one another and we should do unto others as we would have them do to us.
Another thing Jesus talked about was Himself. He made claims about who He was and what He came to do. His claims included, but are not limited to: "I am the Messiah", "Destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days", and "I am the way, the truth and the life". Not all of these are direct quotes from the gospels, but you get the idea. The main thing we can see from Jesus' claims about Himself is that He is not an ordinary man. No ordinary person would say the things that Jesus said about Himself. No one would claim that they are the Messiah, or that they will die and then be raised to life. Jesus was claiming that He is God.
This is where people have a problem with Jesus. Remember that earlier I said that people like Jesus' teachings. They agree with the things that He taught the people. However, people take issue with Jesus' claims about Himself. There are a couple reasons I can think of why this is. One reason is that people simply don't believe in Jesus. They think that there is no way He could possibly be God. Another reason is that people think Jesus was a liar. I think that the biggest issue people have with Jesus' claims is that it requires a response from them. People can agree with Jesus' teachings because they are just nice principles and ideals to strive for. However, people can't accept His claims about Himself because it requires them to believe in Him as God and Savior.
To fully understand what implications Jesus' claims have, we would have to talk about who Jesus is and who God is. However, that could take a very long time. If you are interested in learning more about who Jesus/God is, I suggest reading more of my blog, or more importantly, reading the Bible. For now, let's just discuss a bit about Jesus' claims and their implications. Jesus claimed that He was the promised Messiah, and that He is God. This means that He holds all authority to judge, but He also is powerful enough to save. Jesus claimed that He is the way, the truth and the life. If we want to find the way, know the truth, and experience eternal life, we have to believe in Jesus. Jesus' claims demand a response from us. Either we accept Him as God, and we believe in Him, or we reject Him. This is no small matter. If Jesus' claims about Himself are true, then our response to Him has massive consequences.
-Smart
-John 14:6
I know that it's been a while since I have posted on this blog, but that's because I've been a bit busy with school and I haven't really had anything to write about. However, I want to keep this blog going, so I thought I would take some time out of my schedule and write. Recently I have been reading the book "Basic Christianity" by John Stott, and I have continued listening to Ravi Zacharias' podcast, "Let my People Think". One interesting thing was brought up in both of these- the claims of Christ. What does that mean? Let's think about it.
We can assume that Jesus said a lot of things when He was on this earth, because we know that in the gospels Jesus spoke many times, and that was only three years of His life. Obviously we can only see what Jesus said during the three year period described in the gospel, and what He said in other books of the Bible as well. If you have read the gospels and are familiar with them, you will know that Jesus was often teaching. Most of what Jesus said (at least what is recorded) was to teach others, whether it be the disciples, the crowd, or the teachers of the law.
What I find interesting about Jesus' teachings is that most people would agree with them. As a matter of fact, even people who are not Christians sometimes say that Jesus was simply a good teacher. They admit that what Jesus teaches has value in life. Mark chapter one describes when Jesus is teaching in the synagogue. Verse 22 tells us that "the people were amazed at His teaching". When Jesus taught, people listened because they realized that His teachings were good. Even people today would agree that His teachings are good. For example, no one would argue with the idea that we should love one another and we should do unto others as we would have them do to us.
Another thing Jesus talked about was Himself. He made claims about who He was and what He came to do. His claims included, but are not limited to: "I am the Messiah", "Destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days", and "I am the way, the truth and the life". Not all of these are direct quotes from the gospels, but you get the idea. The main thing we can see from Jesus' claims about Himself is that He is not an ordinary man. No ordinary person would say the things that Jesus said about Himself. No one would claim that they are the Messiah, or that they will die and then be raised to life. Jesus was claiming that He is God.
This is where people have a problem with Jesus. Remember that earlier I said that people like Jesus' teachings. They agree with the things that He taught the people. However, people take issue with Jesus' claims about Himself. There are a couple reasons I can think of why this is. One reason is that people simply don't believe in Jesus. They think that there is no way He could possibly be God. Another reason is that people think Jesus was a liar. I think that the biggest issue people have with Jesus' claims is that it requires a response from them. People can agree with Jesus' teachings because they are just nice principles and ideals to strive for. However, people can't accept His claims about Himself because it requires them to believe in Him as God and Savior.
To fully understand what implications Jesus' claims have, we would have to talk about who Jesus is and who God is. However, that could take a very long time. If you are interested in learning more about who Jesus/God is, I suggest reading more of my blog, or more importantly, reading the Bible. For now, let's just discuss a bit about Jesus' claims and their implications. Jesus claimed that He was the promised Messiah, and that He is God. This means that He holds all authority to judge, but He also is powerful enough to save. Jesus claimed that He is the way, the truth and the life. If we want to find the way, know the truth, and experience eternal life, we have to believe in Jesus. Jesus' claims demand a response from us. Either we accept Him as God, and we believe in Him, or we reject Him. This is no small matter. If Jesus' claims about Himself are true, then our response to Him has massive consequences.
-Smart
Resisting Temptation
"In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."
-Romans 6:11
A lot of things in my life have been pointing to a principle that I am hoping to apply to my life. We'll get to what the principle is, but first, let me discuss the premise. Our church has been studying the book of Romans, where Paul constantly urges the Romans to stop sinning. He reminds them of the death Jesus died, and how we no longer should be bound to the powers of sin. I also finished reading "Knowing God" by J.I. Packer, where he discusses resisting sin and temptation. Lastly, today at work I read an article on cracked.com that talks about things that hinder our lives.
So what is the principle I gleaned from these things? It's that in order to combat temptations, you have to stop trying so hard to fight temptation. You might think, "well that doesn't make sense", and you're right. At the same time, it makes sense in light of the way we should resist temptation; spend more time in God's presence. I'm learning in my struggle with temptation that the harder I try to fight temptation, the harder it gets to actually beat it. That's because when I try to fight temptation, I'm focusing on those temptations, and it can actually be more appealing. The way I should be resisting temptation and sin is to focus on Christ.
Let's break this down a bit. In Romans, especially the early chapters, Paul constantly talks about the inadequacy of the law. I've actually written a bit about the inadequacy of the law early in my blog, and I encourage you to read the post. The reason the law is inadequate in fixing our sin problems is that it exposes our sins without solving them. The law required that people become righteous by obeying rules, but no one could possibly completely obey the law. Even the contents of the law reveal its own insufficiency. What do I mean by that? The law required that the people give animal sacrifices to atone for their sin every year. This meant that the sacrifices could not completely solve their sins, because the sacrifices were made continually. I encourage you to read Hebrews 10 to learn more about the law's inadequacy. The point is, the law is insufficient because it depends on people's efforts to defeat sin rather than on God.
The last chapter of "Knowing God" is titled "The Adequacy of God", which I really like. The chapter focuses on Romans chapter 8, particular the last paragraph, which I again encourage you to read. J.I. Packer talks about the fact that Jesus's sacrifice for our sin is adequate enough to fully save us. Not only that, but we now know that Jesus can and will sustain us in our struggle with temptation and sin. Paul says in Romans 8, "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?". In other words, God is willing to give us anything we need in order to sustain our lives. This includes the strength to fight against sin.
The article on cracked.com mentions one hindrance to our lives that I can easily relate to. This hindrance is the unwillingness to give up something in order to gain something else. The article gives the example of getting in shape. Many people would say they want to get in shape, yet they do not do anything that will help them get healthier. The author claims that this is due in part to the fact that people don't realize that in order to go to the gym and exercise, you have to give up something that you are doing now. For example, if you say you want to go to the gym in the morning, you have to give up sleep, and we often don't realize how much we value sleep. I believe that this principle works in reverse as well; if you want to get rid of something in your life, you have to replace it with something else.
Let's tie this together before this post gets too long. What I hope you are seeing is that the key to resisting temptation and sin is not to try to fight it directly. As we learned in Romans, this is what the law tried to get people to do; simply stop sinning through our own efforts. However, it is impossible for any of us to beat sin that way, because we all have sinned and we all fall short of God's glory. Next, we talked about the fact that only God is adequate in solving our sin problems. Only God can sustain us in our struggle with sin. However, we shouldn't approach sin with the attitude "I will try really hard not to sin and pray that God sustains me". Remember that in order to get rid of something, you have to replace it with something else. Instead of trying to not sin, we should be spending more time in prayer and God's Word. The more time we spend in God's presence, the less time we will have for sin. When we spend time in prayer and God's Word, our focus shifts away from sin and instead it shifts towards God. I hope that we can stop trying to resist temptation and sin by our own strength and instead learn to rest in God.
-Smart
-Romans 6:11
A lot of things in my life have been pointing to a principle that I am hoping to apply to my life. We'll get to what the principle is, but first, let me discuss the premise. Our church has been studying the book of Romans, where Paul constantly urges the Romans to stop sinning. He reminds them of the death Jesus died, and how we no longer should be bound to the powers of sin. I also finished reading "Knowing God" by J.I. Packer, where he discusses resisting sin and temptation. Lastly, today at work I read an article on cracked.com that talks about things that hinder our lives.
So what is the principle I gleaned from these things? It's that in order to combat temptations, you have to stop trying so hard to fight temptation. You might think, "well that doesn't make sense", and you're right. At the same time, it makes sense in light of the way we should resist temptation; spend more time in God's presence. I'm learning in my struggle with temptation that the harder I try to fight temptation, the harder it gets to actually beat it. That's because when I try to fight temptation, I'm focusing on those temptations, and it can actually be more appealing. The way I should be resisting temptation and sin is to focus on Christ.
Let's break this down a bit. In Romans, especially the early chapters, Paul constantly talks about the inadequacy of the law. I've actually written a bit about the inadequacy of the law early in my blog, and I encourage you to read the post. The reason the law is inadequate in fixing our sin problems is that it exposes our sins without solving them. The law required that people become righteous by obeying rules, but no one could possibly completely obey the law. Even the contents of the law reveal its own insufficiency. What do I mean by that? The law required that the people give animal sacrifices to atone for their sin every year. This meant that the sacrifices could not completely solve their sins, because the sacrifices were made continually. I encourage you to read Hebrews 10 to learn more about the law's inadequacy. The point is, the law is insufficient because it depends on people's efforts to defeat sin rather than on God.
The last chapter of "Knowing God" is titled "The Adequacy of God", which I really like. The chapter focuses on Romans chapter 8, particular the last paragraph, which I again encourage you to read. J.I. Packer talks about the fact that Jesus's sacrifice for our sin is adequate enough to fully save us. Not only that, but we now know that Jesus can and will sustain us in our struggle with temptation and sin. Paul says in Romans 8, "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?". In other words, God is willing to give us anything we need in order to sustain our lives. This includes the strength to fight against sin.
The article on cracked.com mentions one hindrance to our lives that I can easily relate to. This hindrance is the unwillingness to give up something in order to gain something else. The article gives the example of getting in shape. Many people would say they want to get in shape, yet they do not do anything that will help them get healthier. The author claims that this is due in part to the fact that people don't realize that in order to go to the gym and exercise, you have to give up something that you are doing now. For example, if you say you want to go to the gym in the morning, you have to give up sleep, and we often don't realize how much we value sleep. I believe that this principle works in reverse as well; if you want to get rid of something in your life, you have to replace it with something else.
Let's tie this together before this post gets too long. What I hope you are seeing is that the key to resisting temptation and sin is not to try to fight it directly. As we learned in Romans, this is what the law tried to get people to do; simply stop sinning through our own efforts. However, it is impossible for any of us to beat sin that way, because we all have sinned and we all fall short of God's glory. Next, we talked about the fact that only God is adequate in solving our sin problems. Only God can sustain us in our struggle with sin. However, we shouldn't approach sin with the attitude "I will try really hard not to sin and pray that God sustains me". Remember that in order to get rid of something, you have to replace it with something else. Instead of trying to not sin, we should be spending more time in prayer and God's Word. The more time we spend in God's presence, the less time we will have for sin. When we spend time in prayer and God's Word, our focus shifts away from sin and instead it shifts towards God. I hope that we can stop trying to resist temptation and sin by our own strength and instead learn to rest in God.
-Smart
Paul Before King Agrippa (Part 3)
Paul now addresses King Agrippa directly in verse 19, the key verse. Let’s read that together. “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.” Before we move on, I want to take a look at two Bible passages. The first one is in Numbers 21, but you don’t have to turn there. Any of you know this passage (Joke)? It’s the story of the Israelites and the bronze snake. “4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” 6 Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.” The second is the story of Joseph. We all know Joseph’s story in the Bible right? Turn to Genesis 45 and keep your place there. Let’s recap Joseph’s life quickly. Joseph was a man who probably had all the reason to believe his life could not be any worse. His own brothers disowned him and sold him to slavery because they hated him. It's bad enough being sold into slavery, but Joseph was sold by his own brothers. After that, he was able to gain favor with his master, and his master trusted Joseph with more and more responsibilities. When the master left the house, he left Joseph in charge. The master's wife found that Joseph was handsome and strong, and so she tried to have sex with him. Joseph knew that if he gave in to her, his master would be upset with him, and so would God. So Joseph decided to fight his desire to sleep with her and he literally ran away from her. She became upset with Joseph and made false accusations about him to his master, and he was thrown into prison. In prison, Joseph was able to gain favor with the prison keeper, and eventually with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Joseph was able to get the position of second in command of Egypt. His brothers went to Egypt during a famine, and he was able to help them live.
So why did I just tell you about these two passages? It’s because they teach us about vision. In the story of the bronze snake, the Israelites were presented with a choice. They could either look at the snakes that were biting and killing them, or they could choose to look at the bronze snake. If they looked at the snakes biting them, they would die. If they looked at the bronze snake they would live. In Joseph’s story, he was presented with a choice. He could look at all his problems and give up on life, or he could choose to look at God. Let’s read Genesis 45:8. “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.” Joseph chose to believe that God had a plan for his life. Joseph believed that it was God who was in control of his life, not his problems. Paul too was presented with a choice. We spoke at the beginning how Paul had been in captivity for years. He was falsely accused, flogged, and wrongly kept in captivity. Yet we read earlier that Paul considered himself fortunate to speak to King Agrippa. How could Paul possibly consider himself fortunate? It’s because he never lost his vision. Paul had a choice, just like the Israelites had a choice in the wilderness; does he choose to look at the snakes biting him, or the bronze snake? He had a choice, just like Joseph did; does he choose to look at all of his problems, or does he choose to look at God? Paul chose to focus on his vision. In his own words, he was obedient to the vision from heaven. What was Paul’s vision? His vision is in verses 16-18. “16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’” The fulfilment of his vision is in verses 20-23. “20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. 21 That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. 22 But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— 23 that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.” The fulfilment of Paul’s vision was the fact that he always testified to others about his faith. Paul never lost sight of his heavenly vision, and was testifying about his faith even in this passage.
It may not always seem like it, but we are presented with a choice. Are we going to choose to look at the snakes that are biting us, or the bronze snake? Imagine if you were the Israelites at that time. There are a bunch of snakes, all attacking you. Our natural reaction is to freak out. Where do we naturally look? We would look at the snakes, and try to defend ourselves. It is completely against our nature to look away from the snakes, yet that is what was necessary in order to live. If the Israelites wanted to live, they would have to focus their vision on the bronze snake. Similar to Joseph, we all have problems that we have to deal with in life. It may not be as extreme as Joseph’s challenges, but there will be things that challenge us. It’s natural for us to focus on our problems, and to try and fix them ourselves. They can burden us and cause us to lose our vision. We have to keep our vision on Christ. Some of you may be wondering, what is a vision? Do I really have to see a physical vision? No, God can give us visions in many ways, not just through our physical eyes. Or you may ask, what if I never had a vision? There is a very simple answer to that question; pray. Pray that God would give you a vision and a calling. But even if you have not had a specific vision for your life, there’s a vision that we all share; Matthew 28:19-20 “19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Sound familiar? It should. Our vision should be to see everyone turn to Christ. How do we fulfil this vision? We have to testify, as Paul did. Will everyone accept our testimony? Absolutely not. Look at verse 28, “28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, ‘Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?’” King Agrippa didn’t believe in Paul’s testimony. This didn’t stop Paul, because Paul was following his vision. Remember when I read Matthew 28:19-20? What did I leave out? Does anyone know? “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” When we have trouble testifying about Jesus, remember that He is always with us. Paul truly believed this in His heart. Philippians 4:13, “I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.” Paul depended on God when He had trouble testifying. And believe me, Paul had many troubles and challenges. Lastly, we have to remember that following our vision requires more than testifying with our mouths. It requires testifying with our lives also. Then we will have both our witness testimony, and our evidence. Let’s read the key verse. “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.”
So why did I just tell you about these two passages? It’s because they teach us about vision. In the story of the bronze snake, the Israelites were presented with a choice. They could either look at the snakes that were biting and killing them, or they could choose to look at the bronze snake. If they looked at the snakes biting them, they would die. If they looked at the bronze snake they would live. In Joseph’s story, he was presented with a choice. He could look at all his problems and give up on life, or he could choose to look at God. Let’s read Genesis 45:8. “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.” Joseph chose to believe that God had a plan for his life. Joseph believed that it was God who was in control of his life, not his problems. Paul too was presented with a choice. We spoke at the beginning how Paul had been in captivity for years. He was falsely accused, flogged, and wrongly kept in captivity. Yet we read earlier that Paul considered himself fortunate to speak to King Agrippa. How could Paul possibly consider himself fortunate? It’s because he never lost his vision. Paul had a choice, just like the Israelites had a choice in the wilderness; does he choose to look at the snakes biting him, or the bronze snake? He had a choice, just like Joseph did; does he choose to look at all of his problems, or does he choose to look at God? Paul chose to focus on his vision. In his own words, he was obedient to the vision from heaven. What was Paul’s vision? His vision is in verses 16-18. “16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’” The fulfilment of his vision is in verses 20-23. “20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. 21 That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. 22 But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— 23 that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.” The fulfilment of Paul’s vision was the fact that he always testified to others about his faith. Paul never lost sight of his heavenly vision, and was testifying about his faith even in this passage.
It may not always seem like it, but we are presented with a choice. Are we going to choose to look at the snakes that are biting us, or the bronze snake? Imagine if you were the Israelites at that time. There are a bunch of snakes, all attacking you. Our natural reaction is to freak out. Where do we naturally look? We would look at the snakes, and try to defend ourselves. It is completely against our nature to look away from the snakes, yet that is what was necessary in order to live. If the Israelites wanted to live, they would have to focus their vision on the bronze snake. Similar to Joseph, we all have problems that we have to deal with in life. It may not be as extreme as Joseph’s challenges, but there will be things that challenge us. It’s natural for us to focus on our problems, and to try and fix them ourselves. They can burden us and cause us to lose our vision. We have to keep our vision on Christ. Some of you may be wondering, what is a vision? Do I really have to see a physical vision? No, God can give us visions in many ways, not just through our physical eyes. Or you may ask, what if I never had a vision? There is a very simple answer to that question; pray. Pray that God would give you a vision and a calling. But even if you have not had a specific vision for your life, there’s a vision that we all share; Matthew 28:19-20 “19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Sound familiar? It should. Our vision should be to see everyone turn to Christ. How do we fulfil this vision? We have to testify, as Paul did. Will everyone accept our testimony? Absolutely not. Look at verse 28, “28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, ‘Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?’” King Agrippa didn’t believe in Paul’s testimony. This didn’t stop Paul, because Paul was following his vision. Remember when I read Matthew 28:19-20? What did I leave out? Does anyone know? “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” When we have trouble testifying about Jesus, remember that He is always with us. Paul truly believed this in His heart. Philippians 4:13, “I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.” Paul depended on God when He had trouble testifying. And believe me, Paul had many troubles and challenges. Lastly, we have to remember that following our vision requires more than testifying with our mouths. It requires testifying with our lives also. Then we will have both our witness testimony, and our evidence. Let’s read the key verse. “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.”
-Smart
Thanks for reading! I hope you were encouraged by God's word.
Paul Before King Agrippa (Part 2)
Paul now begins his defense, or in this case, because it is an unofficial hearing, his testimony. Remember earlier what two things we said could be used to convict someone of a crime; evidence and testimony. Although it is just a hearing and not a court case, anything Paul says could be used in a court of law. This could cause Paul to speak very carefully, or maybe even lie about certain things that might make him seem guilty, but Paul tells his testimony truthfully. I’m sure you all know Paul’s story by now, since he has recalled it multiple times in the book of Acts, so we’ll go through it quickly. Let’s read verse 5 together. “They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee.” Before Paul was converted, he was a very religious Pharisee. He obeyed all of the laws, and acted just the way a Pharisee was expected to live. After he was converted, he stopped depending on his self-righteousness and started depending on God. Let’s read verse 6-8. “6 And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today. 7 This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me. 8 Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?” After Paul’s conversion, he understood that Jesus was the fulfilment of the law. Paul no longer had to be a Pharisee in order to fulfil the law. He also understood that because Jesus died and rose again, he has hope in his savior. Turn to Philippians chapter 3, and can I have someone read verses 10 and 11? “10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.” So what was Paul’s hope? His hope was in the resurrection. Since Christ has risen, there’s hope for all believers to be risen with Christ. Paul truly believed in the hope of the resurrection, but the people listening did not. Paul says to them “why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?” In fact, Paul’s hope in the resurrection is one reason why the Jews wanted to pursue Paul’s death. They couldn’t accept that Jesus was the promised Messiah and that all believers have a resurrection hope. Even though Paul knew that his believe in Jesus as the Messiah and his hope in the resurrection was why the Jews hated him, he had to testify about these things. Paul had to be faithful to his beliefs, even if it meant he would be charged with death. It’s important for us to learn that we have to be faithful to our hope in Jesus. There are many people today who will criticize us for our beliefs, which may cause us to shy away from talking about Jesus. If Paul realized that he could die because of his beliefs, yet still testify about Christ, how important is it that we also testify?
Moving on to verse 9, we see that Paul begins to talk about his conversion. Paul speaks about his persecution of the Christians, and how he even pursued them into foreign cities just to punish them. Paul was obsessed with persecuting the Christians, and he wanted them to be put to death. Paul then speaks about how Jesus spoke to him on the road to Damascus. Let’s read verse 14. “We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’” Paul was not only persecuting the church, but he was also persecuting Christ. If you turn to Matthew 25, you find the parable of the sheep and the goats. The sheep are the ones who cared for Jesus’ needs, and the goats are the ones who did not. When they ask Jesus when they cared for Him, He answers “’truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” How we treat others is important to our relationship with Christ. Anyway, that’s just a quick side note. I know that what you really want to know is what “kick against the goads” means. “Kick against the goads is an expression that means that someone is trying to do something but is only hurting themselves. The expression comes from an ox kicking the goads, which is a stick used to move cattle, but only hurting itself. Paul was pursuing something that only ended up hurting himself. He was denying the truth of God and even actively opposing Jesus. This only succeeded to keep Paul from the truth. Jesus then claims that Paul is going to be His servant and a witness of Christ. Paul will be sent to save people from the power of Satan, and to help people receive forgiveness and sanctification.
Moving on to verse 9, we see that Paul begins to talk about his conversion. Paul speaks about his persecution of the Christians, and how he even pursued them into foreign cities just to punish them. Paul was obsessed with persecuting the Christians, and he wanted them to be put to death. Paul then speaks about how Jesus spoke to him on the road to Damascus. Let’s read verse 14. “We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’” Paul was not only persecuting the church, but he was also persecuting Christ. If you turn to Matthew 25, you find the parable of the sheep and the goats. The sheep are the ones who cared for Jesus’ needs, and the goats are the ones who did not. When they ask Jesus when they cared for Him, He answers “’truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” How we treat others is important to our relationship with Christ. Anyway, that’s just a quick side note. I know that what you really want to know is what “kick against the goads” means. “Kick against the goads is an expression that means that someone is trying to do something but is only hurting themselves. The expression comes from an ox kicking the goads, which is a stick used to move cattle, but only hurting itself. Paul was pursuing something that only ended up hurting himself. He was denying the truth of God and even actively opposing Jesus. This only succeeded to keep Paul from the truth. Jesus then claims that Paul is going to be His servant and a witness of Christ. Paul will be sent to save people from the power of Satan, and to help people receive forgiveness and sanctification.
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